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Agencies in Morgan County to consider more refugee issues

Some progress made on other issues

By DAN BARKER Times News Editor

Posted:
06/27/2013 12:49:23 PM MDT

From left, Joe Wismann-Horther of Colorado Refugee Services, OneMorgan County Executive Director Brenda Zion and Ryan Gray of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains hosted the quarterly refugee services meeting Tuesday. Participants discussed what to work on during the next year and what has happened over the past year.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

Agencies and businesses involved with refugee services in Morgan County may consider some new issues over the next year.

Quarterly meetings hosted by OneMorgan County have taken on a few issues over the past year, and some ideas were mentioned at the latest meeting Tuesday at the Fort Morgan School District administrative building.

Among issues mentioned were the need for properties to be taken better care of, day care for refugees, support for business development and employment.

Outside of jobs at Cargill Meat Solutions, there are few local jobs for refugees who do not speak English very well.

One idea is to look at how to develop job skills and how to work with Fort Morgan's Workforce Center, said Joe Wismann-Horther of Colorado Refugee Services.

Local agencies and businesses could discuss how to develop employment options for refugees who do not work at Cargill.

Cargill only has a limited number of jobs, said Shirley Penn, coordinator for Cargill's and Morgan Community College's Workplace Education program.

It might help to think about how to help some of the immigrants who have advanced skills in areas like electrical systems, but who do not have credentials in the U.S. or the language skills they need, she said.

Penn also said that some Somali refugees are moving into management positions at Cargill.

Some refugees do not understand what is expected with properties they rent, such as weed control, said Fort Morgan Police Chief Keith Kuretich.

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Also, when they have to meet with officials or go the doctor, they have no place to leave their children, so they bring them along, he said. The group could discuss that issue.

Refugees have started some businesses in Fort Morgan, but others would like to, and they could use support for business development such as how to put together business plans, Kuretich said.

It is difficult for refugees to take classes in business when they do not have high-level English skills, said OneMorgan County Executive Director Brenda Zion.

Wismann-Horther said the quarterly refuge services meetings have been valuable for getting a sense of what the community needs.

Places like Fort Morgan and Greeley have special needs, since they are secondary migration areas. Refugee services locates refugees in Denver and Colorado Springs, but they come to Fort Morgan for the jobs at Cargill, he noted.

Most of the CRS programs are focused on Denver and Colorado Springs, but the agency wants to be a partner with Fort Morgan, Wismann-Horther said.

The city may see a new development for refugees soon, as they are in the U.S. for 10 years and can start bringing relatives from their native countries, he said.

The U.S. refugee program is overseeing that possibility by requiring DNA testing to make sure people really are relatives, Wismann-Horther said.

He said that immigration from places like Bhutan and Burma are falling off now, as have immigrants from Somalia. The U.S. refugee program only allows people from countries for a limited amount of time.

However, just because immigration from those countries is tapering off does not mean Fort Morgan will not see some of those refugees coming to town, Zion said. Somali immigration was tapering off when they started coming to Morgan County for jobs.

Congolese refugees may make up the next stream of refugees, Wismann-Horther said.

Past issues

Zion and the participants talked about some of the past issues, and discussed what has been done about them.

Language skills are still the largest issue.

A lack of good English skills is a significant barrier for many things, including employment, accessing health care and other ways of interacting with the community, Zion said.

One thought during the last year was improving the interpretation systems available for the county, but there are few businesses or organizations that are interested in building a better system or hiring full-time interpreters, she said.

Zion said that she had hoped one interpretation provider would open up a branch in Fort Morgan, but the business found it was not financially sound.

Having people interpret languages is always a dilemma for small communities, Wismann-Horther said. It is hard to make a business model that works with the sporadic need for the services.

It is also hard to find interpretation for some of the lesser known languages, he said.

Zion wondered if the stress should not be on more English classes.

There are also still problems related to housing issues, which was discussed at length during one meeting.

Morgan County Board of Realtors Director Micky Ashby said landlords are working on educating refugees about the maintenance and care for rental property.

She said it works best to address only a little bit at a time, so refugees can learn the ideas without being overwhelmed. One of the hopes is that those refugees will then spread the word to others.

Landlords are encouraged to check in with refugees often to keep problems from developing, Ashby said.

A huge issue is the "zero vacancy rate" in Fort Morgan, she said. New people come to the city and cannot find anywhere to live.

That prompts people to share their homes even when they are not allowed to, Ashby said.

There is absolutely no place to live, so they try to help out the newcomers, Penn said.

The overcrowding that results is as frustrating to the tenants as the landlords, she said.

Cargill gives out information on "What every immigrant needs to know," which includes how to use a home, but it might be helpful to have a list of information for landlords, too, Penn said.

Lists of information can be overwhelming for refugees and other immigrants, Ashby said, because so much information is contained in them.

There is a sense by some community residents that refugees are taught very little about living in U.S. society, but it is more that refugees -- like anyone else -- don't really learn things until they need the information, Wismann-Horther said.

A number of agencies and organizations try to educate refugees, he said.

Wismann-Horther also talked about a project to build housing for agricultural workers in Fort Morgan. He said that a project by the same group located in Delta is "gorgeous."

It has nice apartments and solar panels to reduce the need for electricity from other sources, he said.

That kind of model makes sense for Fort Morgan, Wismann-Horther said.

Another meeting addressed how to make it easier for refugees to access health care.

A group of participants in the meeting came up with a list of things to help educate refugees about the U.S. health care system, which included things like bringing all identification and insurance cards along to the clinic or hospital, learning about how billing for services work, being on time for appointments, going to follow-up appointments and making sure to keep all ID cards, Zion said.

Meeting participants said this has been useful.

Refugees do not use the emergency room for health care any more than other segments of the community, said Sandy Schneider-Engle of Colorado Plains Medical Center.

Somalis do not seem to avoid going to CPMC for medical care, she said.

Wismann-Horther said it might be important to educate refugees about the health care reform coming soon. It is difficult to adjust to that change for anyone.

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